Malantic farmers clamor for land to till as UP administration issues a cease and desist order on September 8 over alleged illegal farming activities within university lands.
In a letter addressed to KNL Multipurpose Farmers, the UP admin called for a permanent halt in the activities of farmers at Malantic Bukid as such, according to the notice, have no legal basis and are considered “an encroachment on government property duly owned and registered under the name of the University.”
The administration ordered immediate compliance from the farmers within 60 days. Affected farmers cry foul over this inhumane blow as they assert legitimacy of right over Malantic lands and demand for compassion amid difficulties brought by the public health crisis.
Malantic farmers, together with several students, sectors, and formations, staged a mobilization in front of Quezon Hall on September 9 to urge the UP administration to retract the notice and heed the call of the farmers.
The farmers of Malantic bukid assert they have historical claims as generation after generation has already been farming the land even before the university existed. But up to this date, farmer’s ownership of the said land remains elusive as the UP administration has engaged in infrastructure projects, such as that of the UP TechnoHub, at the expense of dislodging the communities within the university.
“Mula pa noon, ninuno pa sa ninuno, iyon na ang kanilang ikinabubuhay. Paano naman po kung kukunin niyo po iyon? Paano na ang kanilang pamilya, anak? Paano nila matutustusan sa araw-araw kung iginigiit po ninyo na ilegal ang pagtatanim?” said Aguinaldo Community Association President Ate Liza.
(Ancestor after ancestor, it has become their source of livelihood. What will happen if you take it away from them? What will happen to their family and children? What will be their source of sustenance when you claim that farming is illegal?)
Malantic farmers as well as various sectors rallying behind the affected community continue to lobby for the land to be turned over to Malantic bukid farmers who have poured blood and sweat in tilling the land since time immemorial.
Nagkakaisang Magsasaka ng Krus na Ligas echoes their calls to the UP administration, “Nananawagan po kami kay DaniCon na sana, palayain na nila ‘yung mga magsasaka, ‘wag na nilang guluhin dahil wala na silang karapatan doon.”
